South Carolina handed largest defeat of season in run-rule loss at Auburn
On Sunday, South Carolina suffered its largest margin of defeat in a game since 1997 in a 22-3 loss to Florida.
It only took four days for that mark to be shattered.
The Gamecocks were blown out in a 24-2 defeat by No. 8 Auburn in seven innings on Thursday. It’s the most runs that the Tigers have scored in an SEC game since 1965.
In the last four games, South Carolina (26-24, 5-20 SEC) has been outscored 63-10. This is now the fourth time that it has been run-ruled this season, all of which have come in SEC play.
At least for one inning, things went smoothly. After a leadoff walk by Blake Jackson, Nathan Hall got the green light on a 3-0 pitch and ripped an RBI double into the gap. Brandon Stone proceeded to pitch a scoreless inning as the Gamecocks held the first lead of the series.
It only took one mistake from Stone in his second inning of work for the wheels to quickly fall off. The right-hander got ahead in a 0-2 count, but Lucas Steele took him deep on the next pitch to tie the game.
This gave way to Auburn scoring 12 runs over the next two innings, as Stone’s night ended before he could get an out in the third. He gave up eight runs on eight hits and threw 56 pitches. He ran into some tough luck with some groundballs that found holes, but he also struggled with his command and plunked three batters.
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It never got better from there as the game turned over to the bullpen. Ryder Garino struck out four batters in 1.1 innings of work. However, he came into Stone’s mess with runners on the corners and no outs in the third. The freshman right-hander was charged with five runs, two of which were earned.
How bad had things gotten? Auburn leadoff hitter Chris Rembert had already batted three times through three innings and driven in five runs. The Tigers batted around in three different innings.
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Auburn added three runs in the fourth and nine more in the fifth before being kept scoreless in the sixth. Tyler Pitzer took the brunt of the beatings amongst the four pitchers who threw for the Gamecocks. He gave up 10 runs on five hits in 1.1 innings and saw his ERA skyrocket from 4.00 to 9.71 in one outing.
Three players drove in more than four runs, with Rembert leading the charge with six RBI in a 3-for-5 performance. The Tigers recorded 20 hits, with all but one starter picking up at least one base knock.
Auburn’s final runs of the night came from Eric Guevara’s fifth-inning grand slam to cap off the nine-run outburst. This was the eighth grand slam given up by South Carolina this season.
South Carolina got one additional run in the sixth on a Jase Woita solo home run, his sixth of the season.
Up next: South Carolina will play a doubleheader against the Tigers on Friday. Game one will start at 2 p.m. on SEC Network. Game two will follow 45 minutes and be on SEC Network Plus after the conclusion of game one. Jake McCoy (4-4, 6.18 ERA) will start on the mound in the first game of the day.
